


Ways To Be

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Annie On My Mind - Nancy Garden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-17
Updated: 2008-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 06:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1637744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three-and-a-half futures Annie and Liza could have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ways To Be

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to Bethany, for helping me flesh out the first part of the story.
> 
> Written for brooklinegirl

 

 

**One: Time _(New Orleans, 2006.)_**

On the outside, Liza was drinking wine, holding the stem of the glass twined in her fingers, and chatting with an artist ("Art should be for _everyone_ ," he informed her earnestly. "It should be on the streets, tacked to doors, inside everybody's home!"). But on the inside, she was nursing a migraine and wondering whether it would be rude to leave the benefit a mere twenty minutes' after she had got there. She kept her eyes fixed on the artist and sighed inwardly. Tomorrow, she had another meeting with the permit committee. In a few months, perhaps, they could actually start building her team's designs. Sometimes, New Orleans drove her crazy. Liza still rather be here than even a partner at KMD, but, god, it took forever to get anything built in the hurricane-ravished city. 

A voice broke into her musings. Someone was singing, and Liza felt her heart catch, because the voice was strangely familiar. She spun around, ignoring the artist's surprised glance, and saw a woman, standing tall and dressed in a silver gown that sparkled as she moved, singing in a corner of the room. Her hair was cropped short and touched with gray, but Liza was sure she recognized the face, even after twenty years. 

The woman must have seen Liza as well, for she startled and then finished her song abruptly. She was stepping toward Liza. Abandoning the artist, Liza strode across the room, meeting her in the middle. "Annie?" she asked, breathlessly.

A smile broke out on the other woman's face. "Liza!" she said. "Oh, Liza, it is you!"

Liza found herself clutching Annie's hands in her own. "It's been so long." It had been. They had gone in different directions and lost touch after college. Liza had always missed Annie, though, and in the aftermath of her failed marriage, found herself wondering what would have happened if they had stayed together. "How - how are you even here?"

"I'm with an arts charter school, one of the new ones." Annie tilted her head. "I'm the music teacher, and Liza, it's wonderful and scary all at once." She laughed. "But - I mean, I never thought I'll see you again - what are you doing in the city?"

Liza grinned. Maybe Annie had missed her as well. "Urban renewal," she said, and blushed when Annie giggled. "No, really, right now I'm in the process of getting approval for a design of a new elementary school."

"That's fantastic, Liza," Annie said, gripping her hands, "New Orleans needs that kind of rebuilding."

Silence fell for a moment, and then Liza blurted out, "Do you - would you want to get out of here? I know of a nice café just up the street. We could talk, and, um, catch up." Now, she was _really_ blushing. It was like being seventeen all over again.

Relief bubbled up from inside of her when Annie immediately nodded. "Yes," she said, looking into Liza's eyes, "yes, I would love to." 

*****

**Two: Distance _(San Francisco, 2000.)_**

"Beep!" Blearily, Liza leaned forward and peered at her computer screen. _Oh, an email,_ she thought sluggishly. It was five o'clock in the morning; she had finally went to bed past midnight. Clicking on the icon made the email pop up:

_Hi, love,_

I greet you from the city of Santiago de Compostela, where pilgrims walked from all over Europe to this one last holy place. Isn't that amazing? Most of the town (including where we performed, alas) is modern, but the medieval cathedral still stands, and, oh, Liza, it is beautiful. Expect copious pictures when I get home.

Pet the cats a bit extra for me, okay? I miss you very much.

Love, Annie

Liza smiled through her exhaustion. One more week, and Annie would be home. Liza had blocked out a long weekend off - they were going to do nothing more strenuous than wander around the bay and be with each other. She sipped her coffee, and thought: _One more week. I can do one more week._

*****

**Three: Space _(New York City, 1990.)_**

Annie crawled into their tiny bed, half-dead from exhaustion. Liza was already asleep, her back to Annie. She made a small noise when Annie kissed her head, and Annie curled up beside her, so close that their bodies were touching, one arm slung over Liza's shoulder.

Tomorrow, she would wake up to an empty bed and coffee streaming on the stand. Liza would already have gone to her project, and Annie would have a half an hour to drink her coffee, shower and get dressed before heading out to the center. Matthias's funeral was late that afternoon. She would probably go see George in the hospital before that. It was Peter's turn to host the wake, and Karen would bring the booze. Liza and her would help clean up before stumbling home, wearing the scarves Nik had made to protect themselves against the cold.

But for now, she just breathed in Liza's scent, coffee and vanilla shampoo and sweat, and was grateful for her warmth.

*****

**And-A-Half: Immediate _(Boston, 1985.)_**

Annie remembers that first night in Boston in flashes: The bumpy landing her plane made as it landed on the runway, jolting her awake, looking for Liza in the confusion of the crowd, the short, chaste hug they gave each other that still sent something like electricity between them, the way they walked close together, fingers touching but not quite linked, the relief she felt whenever she looked at Liza's face, smiling and real, real, real.

Liza's room was warm and welcoming after the chill of Northeastern winter. A tall lamp with a jaunty green shade shone light throughout the room and a soft rug covered the cold floor. Annie could tell which side of the room was Liza's immediately by the drafting broad-style desk that dominated that space as the blueprints tacked to every available bit of wall. But Liza's bed was covered by a brightly-coloured quilt, and she tugged Annie on to it, whispering that "My roommate's already gone home, we could -". But then she paused, and looked down at their hands, which were now clasped together, and finally said "unless, you don't want to."

"No, no," Annie said fiercely, squeezing Liza's hand, "I do, I do." Long-distance was expensive, even for Liza, but they had managed to talk for hours on the phone before the break, and all Annie wanted to do now was to be with Liza. She leaned and kissed her. Liza's mouth was as tender as she remembered. Liza tensed in surprise and then relaxed, leaning in as well, placing a hand on the side of Annie's neck, and caressing the skin there. It tasted like coming home.

In that moment, Annie thought about all the letters she had sent to Liza, out into the ether, all the loneliness and the fear, and then she let them go. In their place, she could see the future, spiralling out for her and Liza, full of possibilities, and she lifted her hand up, covering Liza's, and grinned into the kiss.

 


End file.
